A birthday party for a pet cat ended up causing a coronavirus outbreak, where 15 people caught the deadly virus.
The incident happened in Santo Domingo, an area in Valparaiso, Chile.
It was reported that 10 people went to the part.
All 10 attendees became infected with the virus, and authorities believe that the owner of the cat is the patient zero.
The cat on the other hand did not pick up the deadly virus.
Some of the people that caught the virus became critically ill.
Francisco Alvarez, the Valparaiso Regional Secretary of the Ministry of Health (SEREMI), confirmed the outbreak.
The announcement was made during a public statement last week, telling that he did not believe initial reports that suggested how the outbreak for the certain incident started.
Alvarez said:
When I heard it was a cat’s birthday party I thought it was a joke. That they were probably trying to hide something, but indeed it was. We have corroborated it with at least six of the 15 [infected] people who told us the same thing. The cat never had the virus. It was the birthday organizer, the owner, she was patient zero.
Authorities did not reveal any other information about the incident.